2018 IIHF World Junior Championship

hockey canada crest
2018 IIHF World Junior Championship
Game #28
Semifinal
Final
January 4, 2018 8:00 pm EST
Key Bank Center
Buffalo, N.Y.

Scoring

Teams
1st
2nd
3rd
F
Teams
1
2
3
F
1
0
1
2
2
4
1
7

Shots on Goal

1st
2nd
3rd
Final
1
2
3
F
5
9
6
20
11
14
14
39

Statistics

PP
PIM
0 / 5
8
3 / 4
10

Game Story

BATHERSON SCORES THREE, CANADA ADVANCE TO WJC FINAL

JASON LA ROSE

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Drake Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Cape Breton, QMJHL) led the offence with a hat trick, and Canada's National Junior Team moved into the gold medal game at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 7-2 semifinal win over the Czech Republic on Thursday.

The Canadians will face Sweden in the final Friday (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT), one win away from extending their own World Juniors record with a 17th gold medal.

Batherson scored three times in just under 19 minutes across the first and second periods, giving him five goals in two medal round games, and seven in all - good for the tournament co-lead.

The Czechs came out with jump and took an early lead when Filip Zadina cut to the middle of the ice and snapped a quick shot over the glove of Carter Hart (Sherwood Park, Alta./Everett, WHL) just six minutes in, but the Canadian power play took over from there.

Sam Steel (Sherwood Park, Alta./Regina, WHL) hammered in a one-timer to get Canada even with the man advantage at 15:05, and Batherson redirected a Cale Makar (Calgary, Alta./University of Massachusetts, HE) shot for another power-play marker at 18:08 and a 2-1 lead after one period.

The third Canadian goal was a carbon copy of the second, with Batherson getting his stick on a shot from Makar on the power play just shy of the eight-minute mark of the second period.

Maxime Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Victoriaville, QMJHL) finished a set-up from Brett Howden (Oakbank, Man./Moose Jaw, WHL) less than two minutes later and Jordan Kyrou (Toronto, Ont./Sarnia, OHL) outwaited Czech goaltender Josef Korenar at 12:15 before Batherson drove to the net to finish his hat trick at 16:58, chasing Korenar and making it a 6-1 game through 40 minutes.

The teams traded goals in the third; Boris Katchouk (Waterloo, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL) whipped in a wrist shot to convert the Canadian touchdown at 5:15, and Zadina knocked in a rebound with just under 10 minutes to go to provide the final margin of victory.

Canada is into the gold medal game for the 16th time in 23 tournaments since the IIHF adopted the playoff format in 1996. Friday will mark 10 years to the day that Matt Halischuk scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 overtime win over Sweden and its fourth-consecutive gold.

Play by Play

Team
Description
Time
1st Period
GOAL
Goal: Ostap Safin

Assists: Michal Kvasnica, Albert Michnac
05:55
PENALTY
Penalty: Alex Formenton
Elbowing (2:00)
08:28
PENALTY
Penalty: Martin Kaut
Delay of Game (2:00)
14:10
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Sam Steel

Assists: Kale Clague, Jordan Kyrou
15:05
PENALTY
Penalty: Albert Michnac
Cross-Checking (2:00)
16:11
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Drake Batherson

Assists: Cale Makar, Robert Thomas
18:08
2nd Period
PENALTY
Penalty: Boris Katchouk
High-Sticking (2:00)
01:53
PENALTY
Penalty: Dalimil Mikyska
Roughing (2:00)
07:36
GOAL (POWER PLAY)
Goal: Drake Batherson

Assists: Cale Makar, Jake Bean
07:48
GOAL
Goal: Maxime Comtois

Assists: Brett Howden, Alex Formenton
09:43
GOAL
Goal: Jordan Kyrou

Assists: Sam Steel, Dillon Dubé
12:15
GOAL
Goal: Drake Batherson

Assists: Michael McLeod
16:58
GOALTENDER CHANGE
Goaltender Change: Jakub Skarek

16:58
PENALTY
Penalty: Matej Pekar
High-Sticking (2:00)
19:22
3rd Period
GOAL
Goal: Boris Katchouk

Assists: Robert Thomas
05:15
PENALTY
Penalty: Drake Batherson
Tripping (2:00)
06:46
GOAL
Goal: Ostap Safin

Assists: Vojtech Budik
10:11
PENALTY
Penalty: Alex Formenton
Holding (2:00)
11:33
PENALTY
Penalty: Conor Timmins
Hooking (2:00)
17:11

Goaltender Leaders

Name Team Mins Shots Saves GA SV%
Josef Korenar CZE 36 23 17 6 0.739
Jakub Skarek CZE 23 16 15 1 0.938
Carter Hart CAN 60 20 18 2 0.900

Game Leaders

Goals 2 - Assists 0 - Points 2
G 2 - A 0 - PTS 2
Goals 3 - Assists 0 - Points 3
G 3 - A 0 - PTS 3
Goals 0 - Assists 1 - Points 1
G 0 - A 1 - PTS 1
Goals 1 - Assists 1 - Points 2
G 1 - A 1 - PTS 2
Goals 0 - Assists 1 - Points 1
G 0 - A 1 - PTS 1
Goals 1 - Assists 1 - Points 2
G 1 - A 1 - PTS 2

Previous Games

3 - 9 L v United StatesUSA
Jan 5, 2018
3 - 1 W v SwedenSWE
Jan 5, 2018
2 - 7 L @ CanadaCAN
Jan 4, 2018
7 - 2 W v Czech RepublicCZE
Jan 4, 2018
4 - 3 W v FinlandFIN
Jan 2, 2018
8 - 2 W @ SwitzerlandSUI
Jan 2, 2018
Videos
Photos
2024 WPHC: CAN 2 – USA 1 (Gold Medal)
Kingsmill was sensational, backstopping Canada to a world title.
2024 WPHC: CAN 2 – CHN 1 (Semifinal)
Kovacevich and Cozzolino scored to send Canada to play for gold.
2024 WPHC: CAN 5 – CZE 1 (Preliminary)
Dunn and McGregor had 2G each as Canada capped a perfect prelims.
2024 WPHC: CAN 10 – ITA 0 (Preliminary)
McGregor scored four goals to help Canada to its second win.
Close
Credit